Officer Wipes Uniform Clean… Makes a Mistake He’ll Never Forget

In case you didn’t think that the opioid epidemic we’re now facing is different than all of the other drug scares this country has faced, the case of Patrolman Chris Green will definitely bring it home.

According to WKBN-TV, the East Liverpool, Ohio police officer had to be taken to the hospital after he overdosed on the synthetic opioid fentanyl. How did he overdose? Merely by touching it on his uniform.

The incident began Friday after police officers had blocked in a car they believed was involved in a drug transaction.

“We think they were trying to flee, but they were blocked in,” East Liverpool Captain Patrick Wright told reporters. “Once they got blocked in, they tried to dispose of the evidence in the vehicle … There was white powder on the seat, on the floor, on the guys’ shoes and on his clothing.”

Green had “followed station protocol for handling drugs by putting on gloves and a mask when he searched the car.” However, back at the station, another officer mentioned to him that there was powder on his shirt.

“Just out of instinct, he tried to brush it off — not thinking,” Wright said.

That was more than enough of the powerful synthetic opioid, sadly. An hour later, he passed out from an overdose at the station and was rushed to the hospital.

“They called an ambulance for him and the ambulance responded for him,” Wright said. “They gave him one dose of Narcan (anti-opioid drug) here and then transported him to East Liverpool City Hospital, where they gave him three additional doses of Narcan.”

According to WRTV-TV, fentanyl is so powerful that it can be absorbed through skin contact, and just a little bit can cause an overdose. That’s why just brushing a little bit of powder off of his skin could have led to death for this officer.

Thankfully, Green is fine. How many cops won’t be, though? How many of our officers will die in this horrible epidemic?

America needs to do something about this, and it needs to be done now.

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